Processing transaction timestamps

ABSTRACT

A first measurement point is received from a first monitoring agent. The first measurement point includes a first timestamp and a first transaction attribute. The first timestamp is stored. A second measurement point is received from a second monitoring agent. The second measurement point includes a second timestamp and a second transaction attribute. The second timestamp is stored.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to the following commonly assignedpatent applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (AttorneyDocket No. AUS920090191US1), entitled “STITCHING TRANSACTIONS” by AshleyClementi et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (AttorneyDocket No. AUS920090192US1), entitled “COMBINING MONITORING TECHNIQUES”by Ashley Clementi et al.; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______(Attorney Docket No. AUS920090194US1), entitled “LINKING TRANSACTIONS”by Ashley Clementi et al., all of which were filed on Oct. 8, 2009, andare incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to monitoring transactions.

BACKGROUND

Transactions may flow through more than one application environment.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments, a first measurement point is receivedfrom a first monitoring agent. The first measurement point includes afirst timestamp and a first transaction attribute. The first timestampis stored. A second measurement point is received from a secondmonitoring agent. The second measurement point includes a secondtimestamp and a second transaction attribute. The second timestamp isstored.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Otherfeatures will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed descriptionset forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present disclosure may be better made apparent tothose skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram example of a data processing system in whichthe methods described herein can be implemented;

FIG. 2 provides an extension example of the information handling systemenvironment shown in FIG. 1 to illustrate that the methods describedherein can be performed on a wide variety of information handlingsystems which operate in a networked environment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may cross.

FIG. 5 illustrates each application's respective visibility of theapplication environments used in the example of FIG. 4 in the absence ofany integration.

FIG. 6 is a modified drawing of FIG. 5 that is updated to illustrate anexample of horizontal integration.

FIG. 7 is a modified drawing of FIG. 6 that is updated to illustrateexamples of vertical integration.

FIG. 8 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may cross.

FIG. 9 illustrates each application's respective visibility of theapplication environments used in the example of FIG. 8 in the absence ofany integration

FIG. 10 is a modified drawing of FIG. 9 that is updated to illustrate anexample of horizontal integration.

FIG. 11 illustrates each application's respective visibility of theapplication environments used in the example of FIG. 8 in the absence ofany integration

FIG. 12 is a modified drawing of FIG. 11 that is updated to illustratean example of vertical integration.

FIG. 13 is a modified drawing of FIG. 12 that is updated to illustratean example of an end-to-end view of a transaction.

FIG. 14 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may cross.

FIG. 15 illustrates each application's respective visibility of theapplication environments used in the example of FIG. 14 in the absenceof any integration.

FIG. 16 is a modified drawing of FIG. 5 that is updated to illustrate anexample of horizontal integration.

FIG. 17 illustrates each application's respective visibility of theapplication environments used in the example of FIG. 14 in the absenceof any integration.

FIG. 18 is a modified drawing of FIG. 17 that is updated to illustratean example of vertical integration.

FIG. 19 is a modified drawing of FIG. 18 that is updated to illustratean example of an end-to-end view of a transaction.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example method that can be used to implement anembodiment of stitching.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example method that can be used to implement anembodiment of linking.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example method that can be used to combinemonitoring techniques.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example method that can be used to implement anembodiment of timestamp processing.

FIG. 24 depicts an example of an instance of a transaction traversing aplurality of application environments.

FIG. 25 shows an example alternate view of the transaction illustratedin FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 depicts an example of FIG. 25 after a vertical stitch has beenperformed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain specific details are set forth in the following description andfigures to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments ofthe disclosure. Certain well-known details often associated withcomputing and software technology are not set forth in the followingdisclosure, however, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the variousembodiments of the disclosure. Further, those of ordinary skill in therelevant art will understand that they can practice other embodiments ofthe disclosure without one or more of the details described below.Finally, while various methods are described with reference to steps andsequences in the following disclosure, the description as such is forproviding a clear implementation of embodiments of the disclosure, andthe steps and sequences of steps should not be taken as required topractice this disclosure. Instead, the following is intended to providea detailed description of an example of the disclosure and should not betaken to be limiting of the disclosure itself. Rather, any number ofvariations may fall within the scope of the disclosure, which is definedby the claims that follow the description.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentdisclosure may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present disclosure are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computerprogram instructions may also be stored in a computer readable mediumthat can direct a computer, other programmable data processingapparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, suchthat the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement thefunction/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The following detailed description will generally follow the summary ofthe disclosure, as set forth above, further explaining and expanding thedefinitions of the various aspects and embodiments of the disclosure asnecessary. To this end, this detailed description first sets forth acomputing environment in FIG. 1 that is suitable to implement thesoftware and/or hardware techniques associated with the disclosure. Anetworked environment is illustrated in FIG. 2 as an extension of thebasic computing environment, to emphasize that modern computingtechniques can be performed across multiple discrete devices.

With the advent of the Internet and Web computing, enterprises haveexpanded their information technology (IT) to more distributedenvironments, while keeping portions of their business logic in atraditional mainframe environment using legacy systems. A legacysoftware system may be a non-J2EE software system. Examples of legacysoftware systems include IBM® (Registered trademark of InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation) Customer Information Control System(CICS® (Registered trademark of International Business MachinesCorporation)), IBM Information Management System (IMS™ (Trademark ofInternational Business Machines Corporation)), and DB2® (Registeredtrademark of International Business Machines Corporation). Along withdistributed environments, software systems such as Web servers andapplication servers, for example, Java® 2 Platform Enterprise Edition(J2EE® (Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of SunMicrosystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both))servers, have come along to provide on-line access through the WorldWide Web. However, transactions may still be processed through thelegacy software systems. For example, they may use synchronous gatewaysor asynchronous messaging systems such as IBM WebSphere® (Registeredtrademark of International Business Machines Corporation) MQSeries®(Registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation).As a result, the processing of a transaction may not be confined to oneapplication server or system.

A transaction may include composite transactions and businesstransactions, and may be executed in one or more applicationenvironment(s). A transaction may be initiated at a client or desktop,such as for example, Personal Computer 250, may traverse a network, suchas, for example, Computer Network 200, may traverse one or moreapplication environment(s), and may return to the client or desktop. Atransaction may be a synchronous transaction and/or an asynchronoustransaction. For example, the processing of the transaction may flowfrom a Web server to an application server all the way to a legacysoftware system and back. The transaction may include multiple local, orsub-, transactions.

A local transaction is a part of a transaction which executes in asingle application environment, i.e., it is “local” to that particularapplication environment. The local transaction may execute in a specificregion of an application environment. A local transaction that combineswith other local transactions to form a transaction may be referred toas a subtransaction.

An application environment includes a set of protocols and serviceswhich host the execution of a transaction, and may span one or moreserver platforms. An application environment may include one or more ofthe following: a web server, a mainframe, a distributed application, anapplication server, a webserver farm, WebSphere Application Servers(WAS), Customer Information Control (CICS), Information ManagementSystem (IMS), WebSphere MQ, Database 2(DB2), SAP, DataPower, a domain,and/or any other application environments as known in the art.

A region may be a part of an application environment where executionresources are directly addressable by programs using common programminglanguages. A region may also be referred to as an address space or aprocess.

FIG. 1 illustrates information handling system 100, which is asimplified example of a computer system capable of performing thecomputing operations described herein. Information handling system 100includes one or more processors 110 coupled to processor interface bus112. Processor interface bus 112 connects processors 110 to Northbridge115, which is also known as the Memory Controller Hub (MCH). Northbridge115 connects to system memory 120 and provides a means for processor(s)110 to access the system memory. Graphics controller 125 also connectsto Northbridge 115. In one embodiment, PCI Express bus 118 connectsNorthbridge 115 to graphics controller 125. Graphics controller 125connects to display device 130, such as a computer monitor.

Northbridge 115 and Southbridge 135 connect to each other using bus 119.In one embodiment, the bus is a Direct Media Interface (DMI) bus thattransfers data at high speeds in each direction between Northbridge 115and Southbridge 135. In another embodiment, a Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus connects the Northbridge and the Southbridge.Southbridge 135, also known as the I/O Controller Hub (ICH) is a chipthat generally implements capabilities that operate at slower speedsthan the capabilities provided by the Northbridge. Southbridge 135typically provides various busses used to connect various components.These busses include, for example, PCI and PCI Express busses, an ISAbus, a System Management Bus (SMBus or SMB), and/or a Low Pin Count(LPC) bus. The LPC bus often connects low-bandwidth devices, such asboot ROM 196 and “legacy” I/O devices (using a “super I/O” chip). The“legacy” I/O devices (198) can include, for example, serial and parallelports, keyboard, mouse, and/or a floppy disk controller. The LPC busalso connects Southbridge 135 to Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 195.Other components often included in Southbridge 135 include a DirectMemory Access (DMA) controller, a Programmable Interrupt Controller(PIC), and a storage device controller, which connects Southbridge 135to nonvolatile storage device 185, such as a hard disk drive, using bus184.

ExpressCard 155 is a slot that connects hot-pluggable devices to theinformation handling system. ExpressCard 155 supports both PCI Expressand USB connectivity as it connects to Southbridge 135 using both theUniversal Serial Bus (USB) the PCI Express bus. Southbridge 135 includesUSB Controller 140 that provides USB connectivity to devices thatconnect to the USB. These devices include webcam (camera) 150, infrared(IR) receiver 148, keyboard and trackpad 144, and Bluetooth device 146,which provides for wireless personal area networks (PANs). USBController 140 also provides USB connectivity to other miscellaneous USBconnected devices 142, such as a mouse, removable nonvolatile storagedevice 145, modems, network cards, ISDN connectors, fax, printers, USBhubs, and many other types of USB connected devices. While removablenonvolatile storage device 145 is shown as a USB-connected device,removable nonvolatile storage device 145 could be connected using adifferent interface, such as a Firewire interface, etcetera.

Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) device 175 connects to Southbridge 135via the PCI or PCI Express bus 172. LAN device 175 typically implementsone of the IEEE 802.11 standards of over-the-air modulation techniquesthat all use the same protocol to wirelessly communicate betweeninformation handling system 100 and another computer system or device.Optical storage device 190 connects to Southbridge 135 using Serial ATA(SATA) bus 188. Serial ATA adapters and devices communicate over ahigh-speed serial link. The Serial ATA bus also connects Southbridge 135to other forms of storage devices, such as hard disk drives. Audiocircuitry 160, such as a sound card, connects to Southbridge 135 via bus158. Audio circuitry 160 also provides functionality such as audioline-in and optical digital audio in port 162, optical digital outputand headphone jack 164, internal speakers 166, and internal microphone168. Ethernet controller 170 connects to Southbridge 135 using a bus,such as the PCI or PCI Express bus. Ethernet controller 170 connectsinformation handling system 100 to a computer network, such as a LocalArea Network (LAN), the Internet, and other public and private computernetworks.

While FIG. 1 shows one information handling system, an informationhandling system may take many forms. For example, an informationhandling system may take the form of a desktop, server, portable,laptop, notebook, or other form factor computer or data processingsystem. In addition, an information handling system may take other formfactors such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a gaming device, ATMmachine, a portable telephone device, a communication device or otherdevices that include a processor and memory.

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM 195) shown in FIG. 1 and describedherein to provide security functions is but one example of a hardwaresecurity module (HSM). Therefore, the TPM described and claimed hereinincludes any type of HSM including, but not limited to, hardwaresecurity devices that conform to the Trusted Computing Groups (TCG)standard, and entitled “Trusted Platform Module (TPM) SpecificationVersion 1.2.” The TPM is a hardware security subsystem that may beincorporated into any number of information handling systems, such asthose outlined in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 provides an extension example of the information handling systemenvironment shown in FIG. 1 to illustrate that the methods describedherein can be performed on a wide variety of information handlingsystems that operate in a networked environment. Types of informationhandling systems range from small handheld devices, such as handheldcomputer/mobile telephone 210 to large mainframe systems, such asmainframe computer 270. Examples of handheld computer 210 includepersonal digital assistants (PDAs), personal entertainment devices, suchas MP3 players, portable televisions, and compact disc players. Otherexamples of information handling systems include pen, or tablet,computer 220, laptop, or notebook, computer 230, workstation 240,personal computer system 250, and server 260. Other types of informationhandling systems that are not individually shown in FIG. 2 arerepresented by information handling system 280. As shown, the variousinformation handling systems can be networked together using computernetwork 200. Types of computer network that can be used to interconnectthe various information handling systems include Local Area Networks(LANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), the Internet, the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), other wireless networks, and anyother network topology that can be used to interconnect the informationhandling systems. Many of the information handling systems includenonvolatile data stores, such as hard drives and/or nonvolatile memory.Some of the information handling systems shown in FIG. 2 depictsseparate nonvolatile data stores (server 260 utilizes nonvolatile datastore 265, mainframe computer 270 utilizes nonvolatile data store 275,and information handling system 280 utilizes nonvolatile data store285). The nonvolatile data store can be a component that is external tothe various information handling systems or can be internal to one ofthe information handling systems. In addition, removable nonvolatilestorage device 145 can be shared among two or more information handlingsystems using various techniques, such as connecting the removablenonvolatile storage device 145 to a USB port or other connector of theinformation handling systems.

FIG. 3 is a diagram according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3includes an application programming interface (API) driven datanormalization layer 310. The data normalization layer 310 may be coupledto application A 320 by API invocation 325, application B 330 by APIinvocation 335, and application C 340 by API invocation 345, userinstrumented distributed application 350 by API invocation 355, and auser instrumented mainframe application 360 by API invocation 363. Eachof application A 320, application B 330, application C 340, userinstrumented distributed application 350, and user instrumentedmainframe application 360 may be a product, an instrumentation, and/or ascope. Additionally, each application may include one or more monitoringagents, an application A monitoring agent 320 a, an application Bmonitoring agent 330 a, an application C monitoring agent 340 a, a userinstrumented distributed application monitoring agent 350 a, and a userinstrumented mainframe application monitoring agent 360 a, respectively.A monitoring agent may include anything else that may invoke an APIand/or monitor an application environment, including a human user.Monitoring includes tracking. An API may be invoked either directly or awrapper may be provided to map specific correlation technique primitivesinto primitives implemented by the API.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, application A 320 ishorizontally integrated 365 with application B 330; and userinstrumented distributed application 350 is horizontally integrated 370with user instrumented mainframe application 360. Also, application C340 is vertically integrated 375 with product A 320. Application C 340is also vertically integrated 380 with user instrumented distributedapplication 350. Product B 330 is vertically integrated 385 with userinstrumented mainframe application 360.

FIG. 4 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may traverse. For example, thetransaction may cross application environment L 410, applicationenvironment M 420, application environment N 430, applicationenvironment O 440, application environment P 450, and applicationenvironment Q 460.

FIG. 5 depicts a visibility of application A 320, application B 330,application C 340, user instrumented distributed application 350, anduser instrumented mainframe application 360, of the transaction acrossthe plurality of application environments L 410, M 420, N 430, O 440, P450, and Q460 in the absence of any additional integration.

In this example, application A 320 includes one or more monitoringagents capable of monitoring application environment L 410, applicationenvironment M 420, and application environment N 430. In other words,application A 320 has visibility in environment L 410, applicationenvironment M 420, and application environment N 430, and can thereforemonitor the transaction through those environments. Application B hasvisibility in application environment P 450 and application environmentQ 460. Application C has visibility in application environment M 420 andapplication environment N 430. User instrumented distributed application350 has visibility in application environment M 420, applicationenvironment N 430, and application environment O 440. User instrumentedmainframe application 360 has visibility in application environment P450 and application environment Q 460. However, none of the applicationsin the example have an end-to-end visibility of the transaction.Additionally, the applications may not be able to use monitoringinformation from the other applications, without invoking the APIsutilizing the data normalization layer 310.

FIG. 6 is a modified drawing of FIG. 5 that is updated to illustrate anexample of horizontal integration. Horizontal integration may occur whencertain parameters are specified to the APIs to allow the datanormalization layer 310 to horizontally integrate consecutiveapplication environments. Horizontal integration 610 is performed tocorrelate application environment O 440 (as visible to the userinstrumented distributed application 350) and application environment P450 (as visible to the user instrumented mainframe application 360).Horizontal integration 610 may include a horizontal stitch, a horizontallink, any combination of horizontal stitching and linking, and/or anyother horizontal integration. Horizontal integration may be used tocouple one application's visibility to another application's visibility.Although the visibility of each application includes consecutiveapplication environments, one of ordinary skill in the art will easilyrecognize that the monitoring agents of an application may also be ableto monitor a plurality of application environments that are notconsecutive; however, this may require additional integrations.

FIG. 7 is a modified drawing of FIG. 6 that is updated to illustrateexamples of vertical integration. Vertical integration may occur whencertain parameters are specified to the APIs to allow the datanormalization layer 310 to vertically integrate redundant views ofapplication environments. Vertical integration 710 integrates views ofapplication environment M 420 from application A 320, application C 340,and user instrumented distributed application 350. Vertical integration720 integrates views of application environment N 430 from application A320, application C 340, and user instrumented distributed application350. Vertical integration 730 integrates views of applicationenvironment P 450 from application B 330 and user instrumented mainframeapplication 360. Vertical integration 740 integrates views ofapplication environment Q 460 from application B 330 and userinstrumented mainframe application 360. Vertical integrations 710, 720,730, and 740 may include a vertical stitch, a vertical link, anycombination of vertical stitching and link linking, and/or any othervertical integration. Vertical integration may be used to recognize thatan application environment has been monitored a plurality of times andto suppress redundancies.

As a result of the horizontal integration 610 coupling consecutiveapplication environments and the vertical integrations 710, 720, 730,and 740 removing redundancies, a complete end-to-end view of thetransaction may be provided. This end-to-end view may show theapplication environments illustrated in FIG. 4 that the transaction mayflow through.

Embodiments of the invention may provide APIs that may be invoked atcertain measurement points in a life of a local transaction. Embodimentsmay use measurement point data received through APIs to correlate localtransactions, monitor a transaction, and/or provide an end-to-end viewof a transaction. In an example, APIs may take the form Point(timestamp, vertical link-id, vertical stitch list, horizontal link-id,horizontal stitch list, context), where Point is a type of measurementpoint, and timestamp, vertical link-id, vertical stitch list, horizontallink-id, horizontal stitch list, and context are parameters.

In an example, the type of measurement point may be: STARTED, FINISHED,OUTBOUND, INBOUND, or HERE. A STARTED measurement point may be a pointtaken when the local transaction starts. A FINISHED measurement pointmay be a point taken when the local transaction ends. An OUTBOUNDmeasurement point may be a point taken when the transaction leaves thelocal transaction for another local transaction in a different region.Processing may either block (synchronous model) or continue(asynchronous model) in the local transaction. An INBOUND measurementpoint may be a point taken when the transaction enters the localtransaction from another local transaction in a different region. A HEREmeasurement point may be a point taken anywhere in the local transactionbetween, and including, the STARTED and FINISHED points.

Timestamp may be a standardized timestamp for a measurement point.Context may be general information about the local transaction that maynot be used to couple or merge local transaction instances, but insteadmay be for display or reporting purposes.

Vertical link-id may be a string that uniquely identifies the localtransaction and therefore may be the same for all measurement pointsbetween and including STARTED and FINISHED. The vertical link-id may beused to link together two points within the local transaction.

Vertical stitch list may be a list of NAME/VALUE pairs which may used tovertically stitch local transaction instances that are identical (forexample, when there are several applications monitoring the same localtransaction). A NAME may be a description of a value, and the VALUE maybe the value itself.

Horizontal link-id may be a string which uniquely identifies aone-directional trip defined when the transaction leaves a localtransaction (OUTBOUND) and enters another local transaction (INBOUND).Therefore a horizontal link-id of an OUTBOUND point in the source localtransaction may be the same as a horizontal link-id of an INBOUND pointin a destination local transaction. The horizontal link-id may be usedto couple two distinct local transactions at specific points. Thehorizontal link-id may be used to link together two differentmeasurement points located in two separate local transactions.

Horizontal stitch list may be a list of NAME/VALUE pairs which may beused to horizontally stitch (couple) two distinct local transactioninstances at arbitrary points (not necessarily OUTBOUND and INBOUND).The horizontal stitch list may be used when there is no horizontallink-id, when it is not possible to determine when the transaction leftthe local transaction or entered another local transaction, or any othertime.

FIG. 8 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may cross. This example includesapplication environment R 810, application environment S 820, andapplication environment T 830.

FIG. 9 depicts a visibility of application A 320 and application B 330of the transaction across the application environments depicted in FIG.8 in the absence of any integration. In this example, application A 320includes one or more monitoring agents capable of monitoring applicationenvironment R 810; and application B 330 includes one or more monitoringagents capable of monitoring application environment S 820 andapplication environment T 830.

FIG. 10 is a modified drawing of FIG. 9 to illustrate an example ofhorizontal integration. Horizontal integration 1010 is performed tocorrelate application environment R 810 (as visible to application A320) with application environment S 820 (as visible to application B330). The horizontal integration is similar to the horizontalintegration described above with reference to FIG. 6. As a result of thehorizontal integration 1010 coupling application environments, acomplete end-to-end view of the transaction may be provided. Thisend-to-end view may show the application environments illustrated inFIG. 8 that the transaction may cross.

FIG. 11 depicts a visibility of application C 340 and application B 330of the transaction across the crossing the application environmentsdepicted in FIG. 8 in the absence of any integration. In this example,application C 340 includes one or more monitoring agents capable ofmonitoring application environment R 810 and application S 820; andapplication B 330 includes one or more monitoring agents capable ofmonitoring application environment S 820 and application environment T830.

FIG. 12 is a modified drawing of FIG. 11 to illustrate an example ofvertical integration. Vertical integration 1210 integrates views ofapplication environment S 820 from application C 340 and application B330. The vertical integration is similar to the vertical integrationdescribed above with reference to FIG. 7. As a result of the verticalintegration 1210, a complete end-to-end view of the transaction may beprovided. This end-to-end view may show the application environmentsillustrated in FIG. 8 that the transaction may cross.

FIG. 13 is a modified drawing of FIG. 12 to illustrate the end-to-endview described in FIG. 12 without the dotted lines showing the verticalintegration.

FIG. 14 is a simplified example of a plurality of applicationenvironments that a transaction may cross. This example includesapplication environment U 1410, application environment V 1420,application environment W 1430, application environment X 1440, andapplication environment Y 1450.

FIG. 15 depicts a visibility of application A 320, application B 330,and user instrumented mainframe application 360 of the transactionacross the application environments depicted in FIG. 14 in the absenceof any integration. In this example, application A 320 includes one ormore monitoring agents capable of monitoring application environment U1410 and application environment V 1420; application B 330 includes oneor more monitoring agents capable of monitoring application environmentW 1430; and user instrumented mainframe application 360 may include oneor more monitoring agents capable of monitoring application environmentX 1440 and application environment Y 1450.

FIG. 16 is a modified drawing of FIG. 15 to illustrate an example ofhorizontal integration. Horizontal integration 1610 is performed tocorrelate application environment V 1420 (as visible to application A320) with application environment W 1430 (as visible to application B330). Horizontal integration 1620 is performed to correlate applicationenvironment W 1430 (as visible to application B 330) with applicationenvironment X 1440 (as visible to user instrumented mainframeapplication 360). The horizontal integration is similar to thehorizontal integration described above with reference to FIG. 6. As aresult of the horizontal integrations 1610 and 1620 coupling applicationenvironments, a complete end-to-end view of the transaction may beprovided. This end-to-end view may show the application environmentsillustrated in FIG. 14 that the transaction may cross.

FIG. 17 depicts a visibility of application A 320 and application C 340of the transaction across the application environments depicted in FIG.14 in the absence of any integration. In this example, application A 320includes one or more monitoring agents capable of monitoring applicationenvironment U 1410 and application environment V 1420; application C 340includes one or more monitoring agents capable of monitoring applicationenvironment V 1420, application environment W 1430, and application X1440; and user instrumented mainframe application 360 includes one ormore monitoring agents capable of monitoring application environment X1440 and application environment Y 1450.

FIG. 18 is a modified drawing of FIG. 17 to illustrate an example ofvertical integration. Vertical integration 1810 integrates views ofapplication environment V 1420 from application A 320 and application C340; and vertical integration 1820 integrates views of applicationenvironment X 1440 from application environment C 340 and userinstrumented mainframe application 360. The vertical integration issimilar to the vertical integration described above with reference toFIG. 7. As a result of the vertical integrations 1810 and 1820, acomplete end-to-end view of the transaction may be provided. Thisend-to-end view may show the application environments illustrated inFIG. 14 that the transaction may cross.

FIG. 19 is a modified drawing of FIG. 18 to illustrate the end-to-endview described in FIG. 18 showing the vertical integration.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example method that can be used to implement anembodiment of stitching. At step 2010, a first transaction attribute maybe received from a first monitoring agent. As an example, the firstmonitoring agent may be the application A monitoring agent 320 aincluded in application A 320, described above with reference to FIG. 3.A monitoring agent may monitor a transaction within one or moreapplication environment(s) of a plurality of application environments. Atransaction attribute may be natural, artificial, or a combination ofnatural and artificial data.

A transaction attribute is considered to be natural if it is notartificially created and inserted by a monitoring agent. The transactionattribute may be natural because it is an inherent part of thetransaction. A transaction attribute may be natural if it is created bya middleware layer, a network layer, or any other layer.

A transaction attribute is considered to be artificial if it is createdby a monitoring agent. For example, a token may be generated usinginformation that is not inherent to the transaction. The token may beinjected into, or flown through, along with the transaction. The tokenmay include information that would not have been included as part of thetransaction if the transaction was not being monitored, and the tokenmay be used to monitor the transaction.

The first transaction attribute may include a plurality of identifiersand may be associated with a transaction. The identifiers that make upthe first transaction attribute may not be unique in and of themselves,but the combination of the plurality of unique identifiers may bereasonably unique. The identifiers may include at least one or more ofthe following: a string, a vector, a name/value pair, and/or any otheridentifying information.

At step 2020, a timestamp may be received from the first monitoringagent. The timestamp may be a standardized timestamp for a measurementpoint of the transaction. At step 2030, a second transaction attributemay be received from a second monitoring agent. By way of example, thesecond monitoring agent may be the application B monitoring agent 330 aincluded in application B 330, described above with reference to FIG. 3.In some embodiments, the second monitoring agent may be the samemonitoring agent as the first monitoring agent. The second transactionattribute may be associated with the transaction. At step 2040, a thirdtransaction attribute may be received from a third monitoring agent. Byway of example, the third monitoring agent may be user implementedmainframe application monitoring agent 360 a included in the userimplemented mainframe application 360, described above with reference toFIG. 3. The third transaction attribute may be associated with thetransaction.

The first transaction attribute may be a subset of informationassociated with a first measurement point and may include a plurality ofidentifiers associated with the transaction. The second transactionattribute may be a subset of information associated with a secondmeasurement point and may include a plurality of identifiers associatedwith the transaction. A subset of the first transaction attribute may beidentical to a subset of the second transaction attribute. A localtransaction may be executed in one of the application environments, andthe first transaction attribute and the second transaction attribute maybe associated with the local transaction. A first local transaction maybe executed in a first application environment, and a second localtransaction may be executed in a second application environment that isdistinct from the first application environment. By way of example, thefirst application environment may be application environment R 810, andthe second application environment may be application environment S 820,both described above with reference to FIG. 8. The third transactionattribute may be a subset of information associated with a thirdmeasurement point and may include a plurality of identifiers associatedwith the transaction.

A measurement point may be a boundary point. A boundary point is a pointof exit or entry from or to a local transaction. Examples of boundarypoints include the INBOUND and OUTBOUND points previously described. Ameasurement point may be a nonboundary point. A nonboundary point is apoint that is not a point of exit or entry from or to a localtransaction. An example of a nonboundary point includes the HERE pointdescribed earlier.

At step 2050, the first measurement point in a first applicationenvironment may be associated with a second measurement point in asecond application environment. The associating may include stitching.The associating may include using an API and/or a file to correlate thefirst transaction attribute with the second transaction attribute. Anexample of an API includes the data normalization layer 310, describedabove with reference to FIG. 3. An example of the type of file that maybe used is an XML file. The file may be editable by a user to associatethe first transaction attribute with the second transaction attribute.The file may be an external file.

At step 2060, the transaction may be monitored through a plurality ofapplication environments by associating at least a portion of the firsttransaction attribute with at least a portion of the second transactionattribute. The portion of the first transaction may be a subset of theplurality of identifiers. Also, the first transaction attribute and thethird transaction attribute may be used to monitor the transactionthrough a plurality of application environments.

If a first local transaction is executed in a first applicationenvironment, and a second local transaction is executed in a secondapplication environment that is distinct from the first applicationenvironment, then the monitoring may include monitoring the first localtransaction and the second local transaction across applicationenvironments.

At step 2070, a composite of data received from the first monitoringagent and the second monitoring agent may be displayed. As used in thisapplication, displaying may be performed on a local system and/or on anysystem accessible through a network, such as, for example, PersonalComputer 250 in FIG. 2.

As may be appreciated by one having reasonable skill in the art,stitching may include a 1:1 coupling, a 1:n coupling, an n:1 coupling,or and/or an n:n coupling. Stitching may include a horizontalintegration, and/or it may include a vertical integration.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a method that can be used to implementan embodiment of linking. At step 2110, a first unique identifier may bereceived from a first monitoring agent. By way of example, the firstmonitoring agent may be application A monitoring agent 320 a included inapplication A 320, described above with reference to FIG. 3. The firstunique identifier may be received via an API. First natural data may beassociated with a transaction, and the first unique identifier may bebased on the first natural data. The word “natural” is used here todescribe data in a similar manner as it was used to describe a naturaltransaction attribute above with reference to FIG. 20. In embodiments,unique identifiers include a string and/or a plurality of strings. Inembodiments, a unique identifier may be natural, artificial, and/or acombination of natural and artificial data. A unique identifier may bederived by concatenating a plurality of strings. A unique identifier maybe a subset of information associated with a measurement point.

The first monitoring agent may monitor the transaction within oneapplication environment of a plurality of application environments. Thefirst monitoring agent may monitor the transaction within more than oneof a plurality of application environments.

At step 2120, a timestamp may be received from the first monitoringagent. The timestamp may be a standardized timestamp associated with ameasurement point of the transaction.

At step 2130, a second unique identifier may be received. The secondunique identifier may be received from the first monitoring agent. Thesecond unique identifier may be received from a second monitoring agent.By way of example, the second monitoring agent may be the application Bmonitoring agent 330 a included in application B 330, described abovewith reference to FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the second monitoringagent may be the same monitoring agent as the first monitoring agent.Second natural data may be associated with the transaction, and thesecond unique identifier may be based on the second natural data.

At step 2140, the first unique identifier is correlated with the secondunique identifier to monitor the transaction through a plurality ofapplication environments. By way of example, the plurality ofapplication environments could include application environment R 810,application environment S 820, and application environment T 830, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 8.

The first unique identifier may be correlated to the second uniqueidentifier as a result of being a direct match. The correlating may bedynamic or hard-coded. Dynamic means that it is not hard coded. Anexample of dynamically correlating includes using an API. Dynamiccorrelating may be performed using an API to correlate the first uniqueidentifier with the second unique identifier.

A first local transaction may be a subtransaction of the transaction,and a second local transaction may be another subtransaction of thetransaction, and the first local transaction may be associated with thesecond local transaction.

A first local transaction may be executed in a first applicationenvironment, and a second local transaction may be executed in a secondapplication environment, and the first local transaction and the secondlocal transaction may be correlated across application environments. Byway of example, the first application environment may includeapplication environment R 810, and the second application environmentmay include application environment S 820, described above withreference to FIG. 8. A first local transaction and a second localtransaction may occur in the same application environment, for example,application environment T 830, described above with reference to FIG. 8.

At step 2150, a composite of data received from the first monitoringagent and the second monitoring agent may be displayed.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a method that may be used to combinemonitoring techniques. At step 2210, a first subset of information abouta transaction may be received from a first application. By way ofexample, the first application may be application A 320, described abovewith reference to FIG. 3. Subsets of information may describe a portionof the end-to-end view that an associated application has a view of. Byway of example, FIG. 15 illustrates the views of application A 320,application B 330, and user instrumented mainframe application 360. Thefirst application may have a first monitoring technique. A monitoringtechnique is a way to monitor at least a portion of a transaction. Atstep 2220, a second subset of information about the transaction may bereceived from a second application. By way of example, the secondapplication may be application B 330, described above with reference toFIG. 3. The second application may have a second monitoring technique.The first monitoring technique may be different from the secondmonitoring technique. A first subset of information may be derived usinga first specific monitoring technique, a second subset of informationmay be derived using a second specific monitoring technique, andcombining the first subset of information with the second subset ofinformation may be done using a generic monitoring technique. Theapplications may be made to be compatible with each other by dataprovided by the applications, even though the applications may not havebeen designed to be compatible.

At step 2230, a third subset of information about the transaction may bereceived from a third application. By way of example, the thirdapplication may be user instrumented mainframe application 360,described above with reference to FIG. 3. The first, second, and/orthird subset of information may be received via an API. The first,second, and/or third subset of information may include overlapping data.The first, second, and/or third applications may not have knowledge ofone or more of the other applications. The first, second, and/or thirdapplications may not directly interact with one or more of the otherapplications. The first, second, and/or third applications may notindividually have an end-to-end view of the transaction.

At step 2240, the first subset of information may be combined with thesecond subset of information to produce composite information about thetransaction; and the third subset of information may be combined withthe composite information resulting in further composite information.The combining may include integration by stitching and/or linking. Thestitching and/or linking may be vertical and/or horizontal. Thecomposite information and/or the further composite information mayinclude an end-to-end view of the transaction. By way of example, anembodiment of composite information including an end-to-end view may beseen in FIGS. 10 and 13; and an embodiment of further compositeinformation including an end-to-end view may be seen in FIGS. 16 and 19.

At step 2250, the composite information and/or the further compositeinformation may be displayed.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of a method that can be used to implementan embodiment of timestamp processing. At step 2310, a first measurementpoint may be received from a first monitoring agent. The firstmeasurement point may include a first timestamp and a first transactionattribute. Measurement points may be received via an API. The firsttransaction attribute may include natural, artificial, and/or acombination of natural and artificial data.

At step 2320, the first timestamp may be stored. The first timestamp maybe stored in a persistent storage medium, such as, for example, a harddisk.

At step 2330, a second measurement point may be received from a secondmonitoring agent. In some embodiments, the second monitoring agent maybe the same monitoring agent as the first monitoring agent. The secondmeasurement point may include a second timestamp and a secondtransaction attribute.

The first measurement point and the second measurement point may be anytypes of measurement points.

The first measurement point may be a first HERE point of a first localtransaction. The second measurement point may be a second HERE point ofa second local transaction. The first and second local transactions maybe subtransactions of the transaction. The first and second HERE pointsmay be used to associate the first and second local transactions.

The first measurement point may be an OUTBOUND point of a first localtransaction indicating that the transaction has left the first localtransaction for a second local transaction in a different applicationenvironment. The second measurement point may be an INBOUND point of thesecond local transaction indicating that the transaction has entered thesecond local transaction. The first and second local transactions may besubtransactions of the transaction.

At step 2340, the second timestamp may be stored. The second timestampmay be stored in a persistent storage medium.

At step 2350, a length of time the transaction took to flow from thefirst measurement point to the second measurement point may bedetermined using the first timestamp and the second timestamp. The firsttimestamp and the second timestamp may be retained in a persistentstorage medium subsequent to determining the length of time thetransaction took to flow from the first measurement point to the secondmeasurement point.

The first measurement point may be a START point of a local transactionand the second measurement point may be an END point of the localtransaction. The local transaction may be a subtransaction of thetransaction. A response time of the local transaction may be determinedfor example, by using the first timestamp and the second timestamp. Theresponse time may be displayed. The first timestamp and the secondtimestamp may be retained in a persistent storage medium subsequent todetermining the response time.

At step 2360, the length of time the transaction took to flow from thefirst measurement point to the second measurement point may bedisplayed.

At step 2370, it may be determined that the transaction is currentlyprocessing in an application environment identified by the secondmeasuring point.

At step 2380, the first measurement point and the second measurementpoint may be used to determine where the transaction has flown.

FIG. 24 depicts an example of an instance of a transaction traversing aplurality of application environments. The instance includes applicationenvironment L 410, application environment M 420, and applicationenvironment N 430. Application environment L includes measurement pointD1 2410, measurement point D2 2415, measurement point D3 2420, andmeasurement point D4 2425. Each of these measurement points specify thesame vertical link-id D. A vertical link-ID may be used to identifylocal transactions. Local transaction A is the only local transactionillustrated for application environment L 410.

Application environment M 420 includes measurement point E1 2430,measurement point E2 2435, measurement point E3 2440, and measurementpoint E4 2445. Each of these measurement points specifies the samevertical link-id E. Application M 420 also includes measurement point F12450, measurement point F2 2455, and measurement point F3 2460. Each ofthese measurement points specifies the same vertical link-id F. In otherwords, E and F are two local transactions within the same applicationenvironment.

Application environment N 430 includes measurement point G1 2465,measurement point G2 2470, and measurement point G3 2475. Each of thesemeasurement points specifies the same vertical link-id G.

In this example, the transaction may execute in one region inapplication environment L 410. The transaction may execute as a localtransaction identified by the vertical link-id D. The transaction maythen leave application environment L 410 to enter applicationenvironment M 420.

In application environment M 420, the transaction may first execute as alocal transaction identified by the vertical link-id E. The transactionmay then execute as a local transaction identified by the verticallink-id F. The transaction may then leave application environment M 420to enter application environment N 430.

In application environment N 430 the transaction may execute as a localtransaction identified by the vertical link-id G. Then the transactionmay return to application environment L 410 local transaction A inreverse order.

In the current example in local transaction D, measurement point D1 2410is a STARTED and INBOUND point, i.e., a measurement point where both theSTARTED and INBOUND APIs are invoked in that order. Measurement point D22415 is an OUTBOUND point. Measurement point D3 2420 is an INBOUND pointand point D4 2425 is a FINISHED point.

In local transaction E, measurement point E1 2430 is a STARTED andINBOUND point. Measurement point E2 2435 is an OUTBOUND point.Measurement point E3 2440 is an INBOUND point and point E2445 is aFINISHED point.

In local transaction F, measurement point F1 2450 is a STARTED andINBOUND point. Measurement point F2 2455 is an OUTBOUND point.Measurement point F3 2460 is a FINISHED point.

In local transaction G, measurement point G1 is a STARTED point.Measurement point G2 is a HERE point. Measurement point G3 is a FINISHEDpoint.

A horizontal link-id specified at measurement point D2 2415(OUTBOUND) isthe same as the horizontal link-id at measurement point E12430(INBOUND), coupling local transaction D and local transaction E atthese points. A horizontal link-id may be used to couple OUTBOUND andINBOUND points of two separate local transactions. Horizontal link-idsmay be used to couple any points of two separate local transactionsusing common unique identifiers that may be matched. It is the same formeasurement point E4 2445(OUTBOUND) and measurement point D32420(INBOUND) on the response side with a different horizontal link-id.

Measurement point E2 2435 and measurement point F1 2450 are coupled bymatched horizontal link-ids. Measurement point F3 2460 and measurementpoint E3 2440 are coupled by matched horizontal link-ids.

Local transactions F and G follow a different pattern, i.e., measurementpoint F2 2455(OUTBOUND) is coupled to measurement point G2 2470 (HERE).This happens because although it is known that the two localtransactions are somehow coupled, there may not be a way to determine anexact point where the transaction enters local transaction G. Thereforea matching INBOUND to the measurement point F2 2455 OUTBOUND cannot bedefined. In this case a horizontal stitching may be used as a couplingtechnique.

For horizontal stitching, the pairing of measurement point F2 2455 andan arbitrary intermediate point in G, G2 2470 is made by matching one ormore NAME/VALUE pairs on both sides. NAME/VALUE pairs may specify commoncontextual data that are enough to fully couple local transactions F andG; yet the exact position of measurement point G2 2470 is not known.

FIG. 25 shows an alternate view of the transaction illustrated in FIG.24. In this example, application A 320 has visibility only of localtransactions D, E, and F; and application B 330 has visibility only oftransactions H and G. Transaction H includes measurement point H1 2510,measurement point H2 2515, and measurement point H3 2520. Localtransactions F and H are the same local transaction, but seen by twodifferent applications that are running independently of each other.

Application A 320 may specify for measurement point F1 2450 andmeasurement point F3 2460 a set of vertical stitch NAME/VALUE pairs (orany other transaction attribute) which may uniquely identify the localtransaction identified by F. Application B 330 may also specify formeasurement point H1 2510, measurement point H2 2515, and measurementpoint H3 2520 the same set (or a common subset) of the NAME/VALUE pairswhich may uniquely identify the local transaction as identified by H.Because the set (or subset) of NAME/VALUE pairs is identical, then localtransaction F can be vertically stitched with local transaction H. Thus,two local transactions may be recognized as identical and thereforevertically stitched.

FIG. 26 depicts an example of FIG. 25 after the vertical stitch has beenperformed. As can be seen, local transactions F and H were recognized tobe the same local transaction, and they were vertically stitched. Thecombined view in FIG. 26 looks substantially similar to the drawing inFIG. 24, and the entire transaction is shown.

Thus, applications with different monitoring techniques may operateindependently and yet communicate with each other at intersectionpoints. Unified end-to-end transaction monitoring across heterogeneousenvironments may be possible. The monitoring of transactions may combinedynamic correlation and token-based tracking into a single offering toprovide end-to-end coverage. The dynamic correlation, on it's own oralong with token-based tracking, may support existing ARMinstrumentation, GPS, synchronous transactions, asynchronoustransactions, monitoring transactions across a variety of platforms andthrough a variety of domains. Additionally, response time andtransaction monitoring may be integrated. Also, natural information maybe used to correlate the flow of transactions between applicationswithout the need to flow a token.

Embodiments described herein may be used to accommodate and extendApplication Response Measurement (ARM). For example, the API may be anARM API. However, the API may also not be an ARM API. Similarly,embodiments may be used to extend and accommodate Global PublishingServer (GPS).

The Figures may illustrate the architecture, functionality, andoperation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computerprogram products according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or blockdiagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, whichcomprises one or more executable instructions for implementing thespecified logical function(s). It should also be noted that the Figuresare for illustrative purposes only, and in some implementations, thefeatures or functions noted may occur differently than noted in theFigures, for example, by being in a different order, includingadditional or modified features or functions, or by missing certainfeatures or functions altogether. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

While particular embodiments of the present disclosure have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that,based upon the teachings herein, that changes and modifications may bemade without departing from this disclosure and its broader aspects.Therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope allsuch changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scopeof this disclosure. Furthermore, it is to be understood that thedisclosure is solely defined by the appended claims. It will beunderstood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim element is intended, such intent will be explicitlyrecited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no suchlimitation is present. For non-limiting example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimelements. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim element to disclosures containing only one suchelement, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “oneor more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an”;the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles.Also, the use of first, second, third, etc may be used to refer todistinct elements, but also may be used in some embodiments to refer tothe same element.

1). A method comprising: receiving a first measurement point from afirst monitoring agent, wherein the first measurement point includes afirst timestamp and a first transaction attribute; storing the firsttimestamp; receiving a second measurement point from a second monitoringagent, wherein the second measurement point includes a second timestampand a second transaction attribute; and storing the second timestamp.2). The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a length oftime the transaction took to flow from the first measurement point tothe second measurement point by using the first timestamp and the secondtime stamp. 3). The method of claim 2, further comprising: displayingthe length of time the transaction took to flow from the firstmeasurement point to the second measurement point. 4). The method ofclaim 3, further comprising: retaining the first timestamp and thesecond timestamp in a persistent storage medium subsequent todetermining the length of time the transaction took to flow from thefirst measurement point to the second measurement point. 5). The methodof claim 1, wherein the first measurement point is a START point of alocal transaction and the second measurement point is an END point ofthe local transaction, and wherein the local transaction issubtransaction of the transaction, and further comprising: determining aresponse time of the local transaction. 6). The method of claim 5,further comprising: displaying the response time. 7). The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: retaining the first timestamp and thesecond timestamp in a persistent storage medium subsequent todetermining the response time. 8). The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that the transaction is currently processing inan application environment identified by the second measurement point.9). The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining where thetransaction has flown, using the first measurement point and the secondmeasurement point. 10). The method of claim 1, wherein the firstmeasurement point is a first HERE point of a first local transaction,wherein the second measurement point is a second HERE point of a secondlocal transaction, wherein the first and second local transactions aresubtransactions of the transaction, and wherein the first and secondHERE points are used to associate the first and second localtransactions. 11). The method of claim 1, wherein the first measurementpoint is an OUTBOUND point of a first local transaction indicating thatthe transaction has left the first local transaction for a second localtransaction in a different application environment, wherein the secondmeasurement point is an INBOUND point of the second local transactionindicating that the transaction has entered the second localtransaction, and wherein the first and second local transaction aresubtransactions of the transaction. 12). A computer program productstored in a computer readable medium, comprising functional descriptivematerial that, when executed by an information handling system, causesthe information handling system to perform actions comprising: receivinga first measurement point from a first monitoring agent, wherein thefirst measurement point includes a first timestamp and a firsttransaction attribute; storing the first timestamp; receiving a secondmeasurement point from a second monitoring agent, wherein the secondmeasurement point includes a second timestamp and a second transactionattribute; and storing the second timestamp. 13). The computer programproduct of claim 12 wherein the actions further comprise: determining alength of time the transaction took to flow from the first measurementpoint to the second measurement point by using the first timestamp andthe second time stamp. 14). The computer program product of claim 13wherein the actions further comprise: displaying the length of time thetransaction took to flow from the first measurement point to the secondmeasurement point. 15). The computer program product of claim 14 whereinthe actions further comprise: retaining the first timestamp and thesecond timestamp in a persistent storage medium subsequent todetermining the length of time the transaction took to flow from thefirst measurement point to the second measurement point. 16). Thecomputer program product of claim 12, wherein the first measurementpoint is a START point of a local transaction and the second measurementpoint is an END point of the local transaction, and wherein the localtransaction is subtransaction of the transaction, and furthercomprising: determining a response time of the local transaction. 17).An information handling system comprising: one or more processors; amemory accessible by at least one of the processors; a nonvolatilestorage medium accessible by at least one of the processors; a set ofinstructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of theprocessors in order to perform actions of: receiving a first measurementpoint from a first monitoring agent, wherein the first measurement pointincludes a first timestamp and a first transaction attribute; storingthe first timestamp; receiving a second measurement point from a secondmonitoring agent, wherein the second measurement point includes a secondtimestamp and a second transaction attribute; and storing the secondtimestamp. 18). The information handling system of claim 17, wherein theactions further comprise: determining a length of time the transactiontook to flow from the first measurement point to the second measurementpoint by using the first timestamp and the second time stamp. 19). Theinformation handling system of claim 18, wherein the actions furthercomprise: displaying the length of time the transaction took to flowfrom the first measurement point to the second measurement point. 20).The information handling system of claim 19, wherein the actions furthercomprise: retaining the first timestamp and the second timestamp in apersistent storage medium subsequent to determining the length of timethe transaction took to flow from the first measurement point to thesecond measurement point.